The Hays Regional Airport will be receiving more funds for improvements from the Federal Aviation Administration, thanks to record boardings in the 2018.
More than 12,000 passengers flew out of the airport last year.
Ovid Seifers, airport manager, said the April addition of SkyWest flights to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport was the reason for the increase. Flights to Denver were also up slightly.
This included a record month in December, Seifers said. The airport last reached 10,000 boardings in 2011 and 2012.
Since the airport exceeded 10,000 departures in 2018, it is eligible for $1 million in FFA Airport Improvement Funds in 2020. The airport barely missed the 10,000 mark last year, but a loophole will allow the airport to still receive the $1 million in FFA funding in 2019, Seifers said.
Airports that have less than 10,000 travelers receive only $150,000 annually.
(Read more: Hays Post)